BAGHDAD: A Katyusha rocket targeted employee housing of UAE energy firm Dana Gas in Sulaymaniyah in northern Iraq on Friday, landing in the company’s Khor Mor gas field, two security sources said.
Friday’s attack was the second on Dana Gas facilities this week. A Katyusha rocket landed inside Khor Mor on Wednesday but caused no damage, Sulaymaniyah’s counter-terrorism service said.
Local television broadcasts on Friday showed a column of rising smoke near the field with sirens sounding. There was no immediate word on possible casualties from the attack.
No group has claimed responsibility for either attack but armed groups that some Iraqi officials say are backed by Iran have claimed similar attacks in the past.
Dana Gas said on Thursday that normal operations continued at Khor Mor, one of the biggest gas fields in Iraq.
A Katyusha rocket fell near a gas complex in northern Iraq’s autonomous Kurdistan region on Wednesday without damaging the facility or causing any casualties, security officials said.
The rocket targeted the Khor Mor gas complex, which belongs to UAE energy company Dana Gas and is located in Chamchamal district, counter-terrorist services in Sulaimaniyah province said in a statement.
They reported “no material damage or injuries”, an assessment confirmed by a security official who requested anonymity.
Several unclaimed attacks have targeted energy infrastructure in Iraqi Kurdistan in recent weeks.
Early last month, sources said there was “minor material damage” at the Kawergosk refinery northwest of the Iraqi Kurdistan capital Arbil following a rocket attack. In early April, three rockets landed near Kawergosk, with no casualties or material damage reported.
Last month, at least five missiles hit a sprawling Iraqi army base hosting US troops in the country’s western desert, two Iraqi security officials had said.
The officials said the Grad missiles struck inside the Ain al-Asad base in Iraq’s western Anbar province and caused minor damages but no casualties.
The officials said the missiles hit only a few meters (yards) from where US forces are stationed. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief media.
The culprits were not immediately known, but the US has previously accused Iran-backed Iraqi militia groups of targeting the American presence in Iraq, including the US Embassy in Baghdad.
The attacks were once a frequent occurrence, but have lessened in recent months.
In March, Iran attacked Iraq’s northern city of Irbil with a dozen ballistic missiles claiming it was targeting Israeli spy centers. Iraq later said an investigation found there was no Israeli presence in the areas. The attack was also considered a warning to the US, a staunch ally of Israel.
US-led coalition forces recently ended their combat mission in Iraq, but continue to play an advisory role to Iraqi forces in the fight against the ISIS extremist group.
